


give and take

by preromantics



Category: White Collar
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-21
Updated: 2010-07-21
Packaged: 2017-10-10 17:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/102312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preromantics/pseuds/preromantics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble: <i>Alex isn't the type to stay in one place, with one person; she doesn't like singularities or constants.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	give and take

Alex isn't the type to stay in one place, with one person; she doesn't like singularities or constants. If she stays still for long enough, something or someone or some place will take something from her.

She knows that, knows because that's what she does to other people. If a man stays still too long waiting for the crosswalk she'll take his wallet; if a newlywed couple go on vacation and leave their house in the Hamptons alone for two weeks she'll take the space, take the diamonds tucked carelessly in boxes in the closet.

Neal, though -- he's coming dangerously close to making her linger. She won't call it 'staying' -- that's not what she does. Linger, though; maybe she can make an exception. She looks for the box and thinks of Neal's apartment, his clean smile, the easy lines of his shoulders.

He's hurting, a little, probably. He doesn't want her, just like the city doesn't want her and the men she takes from don't want her once they find out. If she -- lingered -- for Neal, then she'd take from him. She would want to take away his life, hold his hand like all little girls want to do while they walked quickly away from the Met, some priceless small painting tucked beneath his coat.

She'd want to watch him laugh while they drove away, his eyes free of anything but the thrill of the chase and the thrill of the game and maybe something more when he looked at her, something decidedly Neal. She wouldn't want him to be worried about anyone else, about the past. He would never take from her, unless it was to take her breath away.

Alex can't have all that though. It's not who she is. She's standing outside Neal's door with the box and she wants to turn around and run, if only to see if he'd chase her around the world so she would never have to stay in any place or with any person for too long, knowing he was right behind her anyway.

She almost runs, but it's Neal, and he's something she could never take, especially now, and she won't stay still or linger for anyone, really, not when they wouldn't stay for her.

(He kisses her, once. She remembers his lips even as she's flying to Paris, flying to get away while the city calls her back, the feeling of his lips on hers something that lingers and stays with her across oceans and countries, and she thinks: maybe he took something from her, while she was too busy trying not to take from him.)


End file.
